4. Good gawd!

14. Speaking of gawd, in 2010, the CM Council paid good money to have a "In God We Trust" sign

erected on the wall above their council chambers.

Assholes:

In God We Trust installed in Costa Mesa chambers

By ELLYN PAK / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

COSTA MESA The four words are officially up.
"In God We Trust" was installed on the wall behind the dais of the City Council chambers this morning.

The national motto was installed in the Costa Mesa City Council Chambers Friday.

About three months ago, city leaders approved Councilwoman Wendy Leece's request to display the motto as a secular symbol. Dozens of residents spoke on the issue – some lauding the proposal as representative of the American heritage and others opposing what they said was the infusion of religion into secular matters.
The installation, which cost about $1,050, was funded by private donations from about 50 people, according to Tom Hatch, the city's assistant city manager.
The issue has raised contentious debate in other Orange County cities. In 2008, the Villa Park City Council decided to let its residents decide for themselves. Residents in that city voted to display it.
Fourteen O.C. cities have approved displaying the motto in various ways, including adding the words to the city seal behind the dais or installing the words outside the entrance of the chambers.

9. Wait! Don't tell me! Is he a Republican?

12. it doesn't say in his bio, but just take a look

MAYOR
ERIC R. BEVER
Eric.Bever@costamesaca.gov

Mayor Eric R. Bever entered local politics in 1999 as co-founder of the Westside Improvement Assn., an influential citizen’s group whose efforts led to the City Council in 2005 approving three comprehensive sets of guidelines (19 West Urban Village Plan, Mesa West Resident Ownership, and Mesa West Bluffs Urban Plan) to spark major private market reinvestment and improvement of 670 acres of the city’s Westside. These plans, which cleverly severed the Gordian knot tying up Westside improvement, also garnered regional and statewide planning awards for the city.

As a result of his work to improve the city, Bever received an appointment to serve on the Costa Mesa Planning Commission in 2004 and later that year, he was elected to the City Council. He was re-elected in 2008, and served as mayor in 2008 and in 2012.

As a councilman, Bever developed the reputation as a fiscal conservative who was first to warn his colleagues and fellow residents about the dire condition of Costa Mesa’s finances. He correctly predicted that if more generous public employee retirement packages were approved, and employee contracts renewed in 2010 without serious renegotiation, the City would be forced to layoff or outsource workers to balance excessive labor costs.

As budget hawk, Bever raised the alarm that the city was heading towards bankruptcy while it burned through its $35 million cash reserve. After the reserves ran out the city made unauthorized use of $9 million of its $14- million emergency reserves to cover ongoing expenses. He successfully advocated a policy specifying that use of the City’s emergency reserves be limited to declared emergencies such as natural disasters, and requiring a council vote before any emergency fund spending can occur.